Multi-purpose press



Sept. 4, 1956 R. E. LANCASTER MULTI-PURPQSE PRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 7, 1952 IJlI/E'AIToR ROBA-'R7' Al/CASTLE El, Mim Mmm,

ATTQRNEYS Sept. 4, 1956 R. E.,| ANcAsTER MULTI-PURPOSE PRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 7, 1952 A m M R M w n w M m A v/b IIAI M 4 r: 4 .H M -2 m R M 2 z 7///Maf/d H W Uwe/@90M d, f j f J :1| 6 M2M 2M aw, (w um 4.. .Lw 9&9. ..8 NSEM s, Z 2 f L y a fw..

United States Patent @Jdhlil MULTI-PUBPOSE- PRESS Robert E.. Lancaster, lilinneapolis, Minn- Appiieation August?, 1.95.2, Serial No- 303,043.

4Y Claims. (Ch 10.Q..269)

This inventicnrelatesto multipurpose press and more particularly to an. industrial typejof. press inV which the press beam is simultaneously .actuated-at. a multiplicity of points.

There have beenanumber of presses in the nature of bending braises and. shear pressesvrhich employ such. actu-I ators as multiple hydraulic rams. to operate the mechae nism. r[here is, howeyerl a fundamentalproblem which must be solved. in all these multiple cyliiidered presses, namely to provide for equal pressure upon theV hydraulic rams. in order to maintain the.I press beam inA alignment as it is descending toward. the press.. bed. The longer. the press beam and the greater the amount of Work. required of the. press, the morecritical is this matter of alignment- Inv some cases as little as one-sixteenth of. an inch' difiere ential between the advancement of one. hydraulic ram over the other can cause binding of the bearing surfaces. Further misalignment may permanently. injure' thev press itself, and particularly the parts which constitute the hydranlic rams- As. fa'r as. the inventor is aware all the attempts to rectify tl'lis,problemA the past have been di-v rected toward control. of hydraulic pressure as it is applied to the multiple cylinders,l the compensation for uneven travel ofthe Press beambeing made while. it is in motion. As a conseqivrenee,y yinventtrsfla'avr'.; centered upon various devices for differentially treating the movement of the multiple rams allowing only for misalignmeut of the orderY which will notcanse permanent damage to the hydraulic press The present invention proposes to employ manually controlled valve means for admittinghydraulic iluid to each hydraulic ram independently or simultaneously, no. .attempt being madero automatically compensate for any slight misalighment of. the press beam as it travels toward or away from the press bed.

In a conventional mechanical press that uses multiple actuators the same problem exists but to a. lesser degree Since there is positive mechanical. connection at cach of the actuating points, adjustments may be made mechanically to prevent uneven advancement ofthe press beamf Aligning the beam, however. citen, Ws .olif the .even application of pressure to the Worls. any event, faras I am aware, there are no successful presses either hydraulic or mechanical. which cau be converted easily and. simply from a shearY press to4 a press brale andviee versa.

It is therefore a. general object of.- the invention; to. pro.- vide for means whereby .an industrial press having a press beamactuated ata multiplicity of. points. can. be. usefully employed Without danger of damagiugequipment. whether or not'the press beam is misaligned with respect to the rest of the press structure.

Since my multi-purpose press cau operate. successfully even during misalignmeutcf; press beam l may utilize this very situation for converting the press from a press brake to a shear. press with simple and economical changes. which can be accomplishedwith a of manpower and time lt is therefore. another object .ot this invention to provide for a press ci; the class described. wherein male and female dies may be; mounted upon the. press beam h 2,751,378 Patented. Sepia 4.19516.

and press bed for used as a press: brakev or;4 where, at the operators wishesL the entire press may be converted to a shear press by substituting shear blades for the die members, all` with a rapid and simple adjustment despite heavy- This shortening of unnece ary movement will facilitate.

the return of the press beam to its beginning position and therefore increase the rate of which the cycle of opera-V tions may be performed. lllheny my. press is used as a press brake7 each endv of the press. beam is.- stcpped at exactly the predetermined point. in order to obtain the desired bend in the sheet ci metall Without thinning. and unnecessarily worlipg the metal. Such measure s found extremely useful when bending softy and thinv metals, es. pecially aluminum and magnesium alloys.- In previous heavy duty presses having a long spanx at-'the press beam, such thin and soft metals` have been thinned out by unnecessary pressure after they bending is completed so as to cause the nishedwork t9 warp and otherwisenot co-nform to specifications- Ccnsequeutly ity is a still further object of the invention to proyi'cle for stop means to prevent unnecessary forward travel of the press beam. When approaching. the press bed, particularly'- of a hydraulic press.

T hcse and other objects and advantages of my invention will more lfully appear from. the. following descrip-v tion made in ccnncction'vvith theA accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer tofsimllar parts throughout the several views and in which;

Fig. l is a front elevation ofV my multipurpose press showing. the essential outline thereof with the press beam in full line to show its ppsition when used as a press bralel and in dotted line configuration toshow the cor-v responding lcvver end thereof when used as a. shear press;

Fig- 2 is a segmental vertical section of the bearing as sembly at the left hand end of the hydraulic Press;

Fig. 3 is a segmental detailed view of the right bearing assembly with the lift placev but the cover plate removed to show the relationship of the traelcway to the bearing assembly;

Fig. 4 is a segmental horizontal section taken on the lines rtl-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig- 5 is a, segmental viewcf the. right bearing assemblyv with. vthe spacer blccls in. position for. shearing operation.: and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section. of a segment of the. press beam and press bed showing details ci hcldfdcwn. struc,- ture and shear blade. assembly".y

Referring now more particularly tc the diavrdngs,y the press illustrated is a hydraulic press of conventional structure. The supporting frame-work S cprnprises a lower portion tc which the bed. '1.0 is .rigidly secured and spaced parallel uprights .11. at thclcftand 12. at. the .right are. joined at the tcp in. a head brace las shown inliigl.. The press -beam y1,4 operates ina general direction .toward and awayfrom the pressv bed 1Q to eiet the particular press operation desired. The standard or uppight 12 comprising the right part of the supporting structure. S has housed therein a traclway which mayy be, c :onstructed of angles 15 as shown in Fig. 4. rIljheser angle irons l5 are secured as by bolts 16 to the upright or standard `1.2 which in turn comprises s ide plates -17 atl the outer end and '1S at the inner end thereof. Cross plates 19 at the rear end 20 at the fore complete the housing containing the trackway. Openings 21 inY each of the angle irons 15 may be slightly larger than. the diameter of bolt 16 so When used. as a shear as to allow for slight adjusting movement. Thus, in setting the tracks at their desired adjusted position the nuts 22 may be drawn down against the outer surface of the standard oruprlight 12` and then slightly loosened so as to give a slight play thereto. Set screws 23 are then screwedinwardly through corresponding threaded openings in the plates 19 and 20 so as `to bring the angle irons to their final desired adjustment. rThe nuts 22 are then tightened iinally so as to maintain the trackway in rigid position with close tolerances of the surfaces therebetween.

Slidably mounted within the trackway is a first bearing assembly comprising an upper bearing block 25 having guide members 26 at the sides thereof for positioning the bearing block 25 in non-rotatablecooperation with the trackway during .verticalY reciprocation therein. The bottom of the upper bearing block is arcuate in shape and is of a width'sufcient to form a substantial bearing surface With the upper rocker block 27 which is of similar width and the identical arcuate curvature. Although it is possible to practice my invention by having both ends ofthe press beam 14 in slidable eng-agement with the rocker blocks, I prefer to have the beam anchored as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, the side extension 28 is secured to the rocker block 27 at its underneath surface as by welding. A lower rocker block 29 is similarly attached to the lower side extension 2S. The arcuate surface of lower rocker block 29 and that of the upper rocker block 27 form portions of a circle having its center coincident wlith the aX-is of pin 3) which is disposed transversely of the press beam 14 at the side eX- tension 28 and projecting for a short distance to either side thereof. In bearing engagement with the arcuate surface of the lower rocker block 219 is the lower bearing and stop block 31. This bearing block has guide members 32 at either side thereof for positioning in the trackway in the same manner as the upper bearing block 25.

A pin 33 extends for a short distance on either side of the lower bearing block 31 for engagement with a pair of lift links 34 which maintain the entire first bearing f assembly in loose relative position preparatory to pressing engagement between the bea-ring surfaces thereof. The links 34 have openings 35 and 36 at the lower end as shown in Fig. 3 and openings 37 and 38 at an intermediate position. The upper ends of lift links 34 have openings 39 which are adapted to be engaged by the reduced end portions 40 of the cross head 41 which in turn is rigidly secured to the piston rod 42 of the hydraulic ram mechanism R. The cross head 41 is cradled in a trough 43 formed across the upper surface of bearing block 25. The actuating means such as hydraulic ram devices R, details of which are not shown, may be housed one within each of the standards as shown in Fig. l. It is intended that bearing block 25 with which the hydraulic ram is in bearing engagement, wil-l not have any shifting relative to the ram cross head 41. However, in order t-o alleviate strains placed upon the bearing aS- sembly due to slight play between the vari-ous part-s thereof and the trackway, I have found it desirable to employ the cross head and cradle arrangement.

Adjustably mounted within the standard or upright 12 is a stop member 44 which can be raised or lowered to form an abutting stop for the first bearing assembly when the underside of lower bearing block 31 cornes operably into contact therewith.

Referring now to Fig. 2 a second bearing assembly is mounted in the standard or upright 11 at the left side of my press so as to cooperate with the iirst bearing assembly during the operation of the device. Similarly to the first assembly a hydraulic ram R is rigidly mounted within the standard or up-right 11 and has depending therefrom a reciprocable piston rod 42 and assembly cross head 41 at the lower endthereof. An upper bearing block 45 is slidably mounted within a trackway comprising angles 15 which are adjustable for close tolerances as previously described in connection with the trackway in upright 12. The lower surface of the upper bearing block 45 is arcuate but not necessarily with the same rate of curvature as that employed by the upper bearing block 25 in the lirst bearing assembly. Also, unlike the lirst bearing assembly, the upper rocker block 46 is not rigidly connected to the left side extension 47 of the press beam 14, but is in sliding engage-ment therewith through a bearingplate 48 which may be attached to the surface of side extension 47 in contact with the upper rocker block 46. It is found desirable under the tremendous pressures employed t-o have dissimilar metals in bearing contact. Thus, I may employ a cast steel block 46 4and a hard bronze plate 48 to reduce the high pressure friction therebetween. Similarly, the lower rocker block 49 is in sliding engagement with a bearing plate 5@ which may be attached to the underside of the side extension 47. Rocker block 49 also has an arcuate surface inbearing engagement with lower bearing and stop block 51 which is vertically slidable with close tolerance in the left trackway in standard or upright 11. Adjustably mounted within the upright L1 is a stop member 52 which can be` vertically positioned to prevent the downward movement of the second bearing assembly afiter the lower bearing block 51 has come in engagement therewith. A pair of lift links 53 the foremost one of which lies forwardly of the vertical se'ctionplaue of Fig. 2 in opposite relation to the rear link which appears in the drawing are disposed between the cross head 41 and the pin 33 in the lower bearing block 5'1, which cross head, and pin are counterparts of those parts associated with the yfirst named bearing assembly, so as to maintain the second bearing assembly in loose relative position during upward movement of the hydraulic ram and in preparation for engagement of the parts during downward bear- -ing operation thereof. The press bed 10 may have a lshearing assembly 54 removably secured thereto for co- |opera-tion with an opposed shearing assembly 55 remov- 'ably secured to the underside of press beam 14 as shown in Fig. 6. It is understood, of course, that various types of shearing elements as well as dies for forming may be yattached to my multiple purp-ose hydraulic press. Holddown mechanism 56 of conventional structure may be mounted upon the press beam 14 and adapted to cooperate 'with the table member 57 attached in turn to the press bed 10 adjacent the shear assembly 54. The opposed hold-down members 56 and 57 may be sw-ingably mounted so as to be retractable at will.

Referring now to Fig. 5, when it is desired to employ my hydraulic press as a shear press I deliberately depress the right hand end of the press beam 1-4 by inserting a yspacer block 58 between the bearing block 25 and the yupper rocker block 27. I then simultaneously adjust the llift links 34 so that opening 37 now engages the pin 30 which is axed to the side extension 28 of the press beam |14. The opening 37 as well as all the other openings in the lift links are slightly larger than the pins so as to merely hold the bearing assemblies in loose rel-ation during the lifting thereof. Lower bearing block 31 and its -pin 33 are likewise repositioned to the opening 35 in the lift links 34. When thus assembled, the iirst bearing assembly will function the same as previously except that the entire press beam '14 vw-ill be several inches lower at the right end as shown by the dotted line coniguration in Fig. 1. With the spacer block removed the press beam will assume a horizontal position as indicated by ithe full line coniig'uration.

During the operation of my hydraulic press I may lmount suitable cooperating dies for such purpose as rforming thin aluminum sheet materials. The male and rfemale dies (not shown) are mounted in the normal man- |ner with the press beam 14 in the horizontal or full line posit-ion shown i-n Fig. l. I then adjust the stop members 44 and 52 so as to prevent the beam from traveling beyond the point at which the forming is complete. iThus, I am not concerned whether the right or left ram has slightly more pressure than the other ner @seitherY one ram` travelingslishtly ahead of the. etherpressure at one, side or the other.V It may, of course, Ibecome necessary to readjust one or the other of the stop members 44 or 52 to gain exactly the desired resuit- During the travel of the press beam a-nd during the application of pressure to the werk,` any misalignment of thev press beam at one end or the other is compensated for by shifting of the press. beam itselfand not :by the hydraulic ramV rior of the press structure. Thus, referring to Figs. 2 and 3, supposing the second bearing assembly shown. in lia SllnuldY las. Slightly behind the travel of the rst bearing assembly shown in Fig- 3. In this event.. the entire press beard 1,4 will rock imperceptibly about the axis of pin 30 with the arcuate surfaces of the bearing blocks adjusting themselves accordingly. If the bearing block 31 has not yet engaged its adinstable stop 44 the assembly will shit or rock without Iactual bearing contact. It will, of course, be in proper position for bearing as soon as contact is established be- 'tween the die on press beam 14 and the work (not shown) and will so maintain its contact until the stop 4'4 is conrtacted. While thi-s slight pivoting is taking place at the Iiirst bearing assembly t-he other side extension 47 of the press beam 14 will retract a very short distance between the rocker blocks 46 and 49 and will thus remain rertracted by its imperceptible degree unti-l the rams bec-ome aligned or until the lower bearing block 51 contacts the adjustable stop 52. It there is relative shifting during the actual forming operation under high pressure it becomes essential that the side stresses in the hydraulic rams and the press structure be relieved. Relief is obtained, of course, by the pivoting bearing action at the fright or iirst bearing assembly and by the sliding action of the press beam within the rocker blocks 46 and 49 at the left or second bearing assembly. Although the pivoting and shifting may be so slight as t-o not be observ- Iable it still may be sufiicient to prevent the build-up of tremendous stresses upon the rams and press structure. Thus, by placing the stress where it belongs, namely on fthe exact longitudinal axis of the piston rods and vertilcally throughout both bearing assemblies I can achieve a much higher working pressure with a lesser .degree of structural strength in the press and in the parts of the press ram.

Where I desire to use the versatile press as a shear press I may remove the links 34 from the rst or right bearing assembly and insert the spacer block 58 Las shown in Fig. 5. I then reassemble the nst bearing assembly with the openings Iof the lift 'links 34 in their new position as previously described. With the right end of the press beam 14 depressed as in the dotted line contigui-ation of IFig. 1, =I now operate simultaneously 'the rams in the standards or uprights 1|1 and 12 in the same manner as before with the lowered relation of the right end being maintained throughout the operation. in this instance I likewise lower the adjustable stop mem- :ber 44 by the width of the spacer block 58 so as to prevent excessive travel `of the shear blade which has lbeen attached to the press beam 14. The shear blade lwill contact the Work at the right end and progress rtoward the left end in a manner simil-ar to that in con- Nentional shear presses. Hold-down elements 56 and '57 may be employed during the shearing operation as is common to the art. Here again misalignments of the individual rams will have no disastrous elect upon t-he Wvork or upon the machine itself, the press beam 14 merely pivot-ing at the tirst bearing assembly and sliding at the second bea-ring assembly in the manner previously noted. As the press beam completes the shearing operation, the owered adjustment stop 44 and the adjustment stop 52 I.will prevent unnecessary travel of the press beam. This stopping of the beam will result in greater work producte. return the; press beam be so, great for each cycle. at much of operation time that is dest; in stendardpress beam` equipment; is due te this unf gegessen travel Qt the shear blade, especiallyf in itsl downward travel. after the shearing operation, is. com:v nleted 'Ltwilh of; cpnrse. be, understood that various changes- 'a 'be made. in the. farm, details, arrangement Iand pro.- rertgns et the parte without departing from the Scope Qffmvinvention.Y

What I claim In a multi-purpose press device having a supporting structure including a rigid, bed and parallel uprighrs securedv thereto, in spaced relation, an actuator mounted on each of .saiduprights, and movablev downwardly and` upwardly along said upright, a first bearing assembly comprising an upper bearing block, an upper rocker block, a lower rocker block and a stop block, a lift link inter connecting the actuator and the stop block of said first bearing assembly, a second bearing assembly comprising an upper bearing block, an upper rocker block, a lower rocker block and a stop block, a lift link connected between the other actuator and the stop block of said second bearing assembly, and a press beam secured at one end to the rocker blocks of said first bearing assembly and having its other end slidably engaged between the upper and lower rocker blocks of said second bearing assembly.

2. A multi-purpose press comprising a supporting structure having spaced parallel trackways and a rigid press bed secured thereto, a rst bearing assembly slidably mounted in one of said trackways, a second bearing assembly slidably mounted in another of said trackways, actuator means mounted on said supporting structure and connecting with said lirst and second bearing assemblies for imparting working force thereon, a press beam mounted across said rst and second bearing assemblies and having a curved upper surface at one end for arcuate pivotal bearing connection with the first bearing assembly, said one end of the press beam having its side surfaces in sliding engagement with its trackway, said press beam having a flat upper surface at the other end thereof and the side surfaces thereof lying in sliding engagement with the trackway with the second bearing assembly associated therewith, said second bearing assembly having pressing and sliding engagement with said flat upper surface, and removable spacer means between the curved bearing surface of said press beam and the bearing surface of said rst bearing assembly.

3. In a multi-purpose press device having a support ing structure including a rigid bed and parallel uprights secured thereto in spaced relation, an actuator mounted on each of said uprights and movable downwardly and upwardly along said upright, a first bearing assembly comprising an upper bearing block, an upper rocker block, a lower rocker block and a stop block, a lift link interconnecting the actuator and the stop block of said rst bearing assembly, a second bearing assembly comprising an upper bearing block, an upper rocker block, a lower rocker block and a stop block, a lift link connected between the other actuator and the stop block of said second bearing assembly, and a press beam secured at one end to the rocker blocks of said rst bearing assembly and having its other end slidably engaged between the upper and lower rocker blocks of said second bearing assembly, said lift link having a plurality of spaced fastening means, the spacing of one pair of the fastening means being such as to hold the first bearing assembly in close association for raising the beam, and another pair of said fastening means being utilized to create a space in said bearing assembly to permit positioning a spacer block in close association between a rocker block and one of said bearing and stop blocks.

4. In a multi-purpose hvdraulic press device having asupporting structure including a rigid bed and parallel uprights secured thereto in spaced relation, an actuator mounted ou each of said uprights and movable downwardly and upwardly therealong, a first bearing assembly comprising a bearing blockV connected to one of said actuators, an upper rocker block, a lower rocker block and a stop block, a second bearing assembly having a bearing block connected to the other of said actuators, an upper rocker block, a lower rocker block ,and a stop block, a press beam rigidly secured to the upper and lower rocker blocks of said first bearing assembly at one end thereof and at the other end thereof in slidable bearing engagement between the upper and lower rocker blocks of the second bearing assembly, and a spacer block of predetermined width interposed between the bearing block and the upper rocker block of said rst bearing assembly whereby the end of the press beam which is in contact with the first bearing assembly will be lower than the other end by the width of the spacer block.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 968,196 Reeder Aug. 23, 1910 2,312,213 Fenis Feb. 23, 1943 2,400,996 Iverson May 28, 1946 2,667,922 Hill et al. Feb. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 275,139 Germany June 10, 1914 468,153 France Apr. 17, 1914 618,399 Great Britain' Feb. 21, 1949 

